Quick improvements at deadly intersection

The dangerous intersection of Stockton and Sacramento streets — where Pui Fong Yim Lee was struck and killed by a car last month — has received some quick and welcome safety improvements for pedestrians.

The Municipal Transportation Agency has repainted the crosswalks with cross-hatching to make them more visible to approaching drivers, installed larger lights on traffic signals, adjusted the timing of pedestrian signals, put up signs warning drivers to watch for pedestrians and removed two parking meters to increase visibility at the intersection.

“It’s sad that it takes a life, but MTA responded appropriately and quickly,” said Nicole Schneider, executive director of Walk San Francisco.

Yim Lee, 78, was hit while crossing the intersection near the Stockton Street Tunnel just on the morning of Sept. 20. The driver, 40-year-old Calixto Dilinila, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter for failing to yield to a pedestrian.

Since the fatal collision, and an injury accident three days later, community leaders and pedestrian activists had called for improvements to the intersection, one of the city’s deadliest. Schneider said that improvements are helpful but Chinatown residents still want a “pedestrian scramble,” a signal cycle that halts all traffic and allows pedestrians to cross the intersection in any direction.